The Citizens League convened an independent study committee to answer key questions surrounding a minimum wage ordinance in the City of Saint Paul. The study committee, whose members have been selected by the Citizens League, represented a balance of different perspectives on this issue. Their charge was to review previous scoping work, review other relevant research, agree on findings and conclusions from this effort, and finally, develop and put forward recommendations for a minimum wage ordinance to the City.

On September 12, Citizens League Executive Director Pahoua Hoffman, Policy Director Angelica Klebsch, and study committee co-chairs B Kyle, President & CEO of the Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce, and Rick Varco, Political Director of SEIU Healthcare MN, provided details on the recommendations and the process that led to the report. This presentation was followed by input from community members attending the meeting.

From November 2017 to November 2018, stories in the press surrounding the work of the committee and a potential wage ordinance in St. Paul were prevalent. Click here to see the coverage. The articles and online posts surrounding the minimum wage are not endorsed nor approved by the study committee. They are posted here simply to provide context surrounding the committee’s work. Because the committee’s work has come to a close, and the City of Saint Paul has enacted a minimum wage ordinance, this page is no longer updated as of 11/19/2018.

Phase 1 Scoping Project Report

The Citizens League was commissioned by The Saint Paul Foundation to help the city of St. Paul, its employers and employees, and residents explore questions related to and potential impacts of raising the minimum wage.

From November 2017 to February 2018, the Citizens League conducted a scoping project to identify the key questions, resources, and stakeholders that would need to be part of a larger potential effort in 2018 to answer these questions and propose an implementation plan for the city of St. Paul on this issue.